"Real fights happen in the space of a phone booth..."...Sunday night at 9pm I found it out for
real, first fight on the job...dispatch sent my FTO, me and one other officer to serve a
FTA warrant on someone with drug charges, weapons charges, evading, and
resisting arrest...the CRT team was supposed to do it, as the gus history was long on assaults, dangerous weapons, m/v theft,
etc etc...bad news....
we blacked out down the dirt road, visibility was horrible and no street or house lights
outside. His daughter in her late 20s was outside and scared by us, we asked her about
her father and she changed addresses a couple times of where he lived, and then one officer told her that
if we found out he was inside she would be harboring a fugitive, so she asked her options, then started for the house
at a job so we hopped the fence and followed her in the kitchen where he was sitting at a island table thing,
with a knife there on the table and a steak block (?) knife holder right behind him on kitchen counter. The one officer,
known in the dept as the bad ass and desired guy to have back you up, grabbed the knife and put it in the sink.
3 women were in the kitchen and started telling "dad" and husband to go calmly...my FTO was across the
table from him, I went to his right, and the ex marine cop to his left between the island and counter...the suspect is 40's
5'8 180, looks at us, tells us "your not taking me in", then gets up charging the marine cop to
his left and handcuffs got tossed across the room and the cop pinned up againtst the counter (there was like 2' at most
space between the counter and island), then I think I was already moving towards him and i vividly remember the wide eyes open
and seeing the other cops badge and facial expression as he was mid air going down on his back..."Holy shit" moment in
my head going "this is the depts toughest guy and he just got tossed, s***t!"...
from what I remember and what my FTO saw as he was trying to get to us, was that i grabbed him from behind with my left arm overhooked
over his left arm and my right arm around his head in a face crank pulling his head smacking into mine, him kicking widly and trying to bite my foream
so i twisted him around in the face crank/overhook position so he wasnt facing the counter, he kept kicking and shit was flying all over the kitchen
and the women were now right at our backs screaming and crying and he was only getting more aggresive so i guess i slammed his body into the counter then stepped
back and either did a leg sweep or pulled up and threw my hip into him and tossed him into the corner of the kitchen floor, with me mounted on his back...then i remember him trying
to bite my right arm around his face so i pulled it out and palmed the back of his head and put my thumb uncer his ear (didnt do a damn thing and i was shoving HARD while
he kept talking trash), and my left hand had his left arm chicken winged under his chest...i think my knee was on his hamstring and my chest on his back....my FTO got his legs as he
was kicking and the other cop got back in it and controlled his left elbow for me so i could get my arm out...then we ended up cuffing him...hands and feet...
kitchen was destroyed, the island was moved accross room, chairs everywhere, my mag lite was on the counter near the toaster how the hell it got up there i dont know, and i have a scrape on my right eye, bruise on my
forehead from where i think i hit the counter while driving him down in the bulldog type tackle from behind, and some dings on my shins and elbow...

anyways, i need some simulation training, i need some high gear stuff, and no time for moves, OC, no space for any of that in the confined quarters with knives there etc...
it was in the space of a phone book, and it was gross motor all the way around...the pressure point even after i had him down and on top if him, did NOTHING and i had 220 pounds of me palming back of his head trying to get him to calm down
with my thumb pushing there.....he threw the most reputable tough guy cop in my dept like it was nothing...but we all went home safe, i got some major brownie FTO points for grading, and my FTOs girlfriend called and thanked me, and the cop who was on his back
told me he would never forget it and always be backing me up when he hears me on radio, and that he was going home to his 2 little kids and wife and thanked me for it...
so, it worked out alright....we are all safe....God Bless, THANKS
Matt

MATT!!!!!
A week on the job with some BLAUER training and you were able to save the depts toughest guy and the FTO...you better get some sort of commendation for this!
Well, you have one from me, welcome to battle.
Good work buddy.
Get your butt up to Montreal. Get your DT dept and chif to look at the SPEAR 'LETN' tape and also the BMF tape [LEO only].
Again, congrats.
TOny

Matt:
Just like I told you on the phone,GREAT JOB BROTHER!
One thing you forgot to mention is how the guys family
(daughter, wife ...) thought you were the "Good Cop"
because of all your verbal commands/defusing attempts during this scary moment.They thought the first officer who got tossed was the real "bad cop" Can't get better than that.
One less bad guy out there in Wallingford! Peace and
watch your 6.

MATT YOUR OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE!!
NICE JOB UNDER PRESSURE!!!
THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!!!
ANYONE CAN DO IT UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS!!!
YOU DID IT FOR REAL!!!
GREAT WAY TO RUB THAT VELVET OFF THE ANTLERS!!!
WIIL YOU BE UP TO MY HUMBLE ADOBE ANY TIME SOON?
PEACE, TOM

Matt!!
"He who fights monsters...."
Way to get challenged and stay in the moment Bro!!!
Good job my friend...you will have plenty more "training opportunities" thanks to our good friends the sociopaths.
So who is the toughest dude in your Department now??....I hope he at least got you a beer...8-)
U da MAN!
Tony Torres
Va Beach, VA

Matt,
Thanks, from a civilian in Connecticut. Like I said when you got accepted at the academy, I feel a lot safer with someone like you around.
BTW, the package arrived. Thanks for the quick turnaround.
Yours,
Glenn

matty,
when the FBI came here to ask me about your background for the border patrol,they asked me to tell them in a few words what i thought of you.i told the agent that if i was in a foxhole i wanted matt at my side.i knew i was right all along.
god bless
jim
ps.i know my boys say prayers for you at night for a reason.

Fantastic job!! I can't even imagine how terrifying it must have been at the time. I just have a few questions:
1. In a situation like that, are you still limited as to how much force you're allowed to defend yourself, or at that point does anything go except for maybe lethal force?
2. Do you think even using elbows and knees on the guy would have helped you? Or was he too drugged out to feel it? Or were you even too close to use those types of blows?
I don't have the "opportunity" to try out techniques in real confrontations (and I don't have the High Gear yet) so I'm always looking for information from others who have "been there."
Once again, good work.

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